


Frozen Flower

by TheLovelyLadyAuthor



Category: Gotham (TV)
Genre: Emotional Hurt/Comfort, Foster Care, Gen, Guilt, Hurt/Comfort, Sick Character, Single Parents
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-06-29
Updated: 2019-06-29
Packaged: 2020-05-29 13:31:20
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,461
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/19401313
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/TheLovelyLadyAuthor/pseuds/TheLovelyLadyAuthor
Summary: Harvey Bullock has always felt guilty, deep down, for being the one responsible for Ivy Pepper being an orphan. One day, he finally gets a chance to at least make things a bit better for the young girl.





	Frozen Flower

Harvey Bullock had never expected to be a parent. 

He wasn't the kind of man that liked kids, or cleaning up messes, or caring for another human being in general. Hell, he could barely take care of himself, so he'd never thought about settling down and having kids.

Though, there was one child who always stuck with him. Ivy Pepper. The girl who's father he'd framed and killed, who's mother he'd unintentionally driven to suicide, leaving her orphaned. Harvey thought about her often, a poor kid who's life he'd ruined by being a shitty cop, and shitty human being.

Harvey never expected to see Ivy again, so when she made her way into his life, he was hardly prepared.

The middle aged detective had been out drinking on Friday after work, eager to start his day off by sleeping in, and sleeping off a hangover. He was walking home at around two in the morning, after last call at his usual bar. His feet crunched in the thick layer of snow that had piled up over the streets of Gotham.

He was a few blocks from his house when he heard it; coughing. Normally Harvey would have just kept going, but the coughing sounded like it was coming from a child.

Turning, Harvey ventured towards the sound of the coughing, which led him into an alley. The wind blew harshly against him, making him pull his coat tighter around him as he searched for the source of the noise.

Eventually he came to a stop in front of a poorly put together shelter, the entrance covered by a thin, hanging sheet. Harvey hesitated, before keeling down and pulling the sheet away.

Inside, Ivy Pepper was laying on a pile of dirty blankets, shivering and coughing. Her cheeks were flushed with fever, and her fingers and lips were turning blue from the cold.

"Ivy?" Harvey's eyes widened in shock, and he looked around. "Kid, you're going to get pneumonia. Come on, let me take you to a hospital."

The young girl opened her eyes and squinted at him, before curling up more and pushing back into her shelter. "No. I won't go to a hospital. Leave me a-alone!"

Harvey sighed before reaching in and grabbing her, pulling her out and into his arms. It didn't surprise him when Ivy started to struggle and escape, begging not to be taken to a hospital.

"Fine!" Harvey snapped, his patience already being worn thin. "I won't take you to a hospital but I won't leave you out in the cold. I'm taking you home." 

Ivy went quiet at that, and stopped squirming, allowing Harvey to take off his coat and wrap her in it, before hugging her tight to his chest as he continued the rest of the way to his apartment, his steps rushed as he wanted to get her out of the cold as soon as possible.

Once he reached his apartment, he pulled out his keys and quickly made his way inside. He went to his bedroom and set Ivy down on the bed, before going to find some warm and clean clothes that she could wear.

"If you molest me I'll tell." Ivy mumbled, before coughing harshly.

"I'm not going to molest you. I'm a cop." Harvey snapped, digging through a box of old clothes he wore when he was younger, ones that would fit her better than the clothes he wore now.

"Being a cop doesn't mean you're not a pedophile." 

Harvey wasn't going to argue with that, after all, she was right. There were some really bad cops out there. In fact, Harvey knew a few that, if someone told him they were molesting kids, he probably wouldn't be that surprised.

"You're not wrong, kid. But, I'm not one of them." He sighed and pulled out an old shirt and some shorts with a drawstring. "Here, but these on and get under the blankets. I'll get you some medicine and make you something warm to eat."

"No meat, I'm a vegetarian." She told him, taking the clothes from him and pulling off her damp and frozen sweater.

"I'll keep that in mind." 

He turned and left the room, leaving Ivy to change out of her old clothes and into the new, dry ones, and climb into Harvey's large bed. He made his way into the kitchen and put on a pot of vegetable soup, and found some cold and flu medicine. It was the adult kind, with alcohol in it, but he figured that would just help her sleep more.

After giving her enough time, Harvey returned to the bedroom with the medicine, pouring her a cap full and offering it to her. "Here, I'm giving you two of these." He waited until she swallowed the first cap, before he gave her another, and then he put the cap back on and set the medicine down. "I'm making you some soup. Hopefully it'll help."

"Thanks." She mumbled, settling into the blankets. "Why are you being nice to me?"

"Because I'm a nice guy." Harvey retorted, half sarcastically. "Why were you sleeping outside in the middle of winter? Why didn't you go to one of the youth shelters or something?"

"I can survive on my own." She replied, her eyes drooping as she already started to feel drowsy. Harvey had cranked up the heat in the bedroom to hopefully help warm her up faster.

"Sure you can, kid," He smirked slightly and shook his head. This girl reminded him of himself, when he was a kid who thought he knew everything about the world. "You know, even the best of us need a little help every now and again."

Ivy didn't reply to that just closed her eyes and settled down under the blankets. Harvey went to the closet and pulled down a few more going over to cover her in the plush comforters, tucking her in like it was a natural action he'd been doing for most of his life.

Once the timer went off, he went and got her a big bowl of soup and some vegetable crackers to eat with it, bringing it back and setting the bowl down on the bedside table. "Careful, it's hot."

Ivy nodded and sipped it carefully, nibbling on a few of the crackers. Harvey sat with her for a while before going to get her a glass of water. By the time he returned, half the soup and most of the crackers had been eaten, and Ivy was sound asleep under the covers, her messy red hair spread out across the pillow.

"Kids." Harvey chuckled and shook his head, setting the cold glass of water down beside the bed. he grabbed the soup and the medicine and returned to the kitchen, putting everything away.

With a sigh, he went into the living room and settled on the couch, turning on the television at a low volume so he wouldn't wake up the kid, who probably desperately needed some sleep if she were to recover from her exposure to the elements.

Harvey didn't even realize he'd fallen asleep until he woke up to the sound of violent coughing coming from his bedroom, followed by pained sobs.

The detective grunted and pushed himself to his feet immediately heading into the bedroom, something akin to protective instincts kicking in that urged him to take care of the little girl that very obviously needed his help.

"Ivy? You okay, kid?" He questioned as he walked in finding the girl sobbing in frustration, likely due to the pain in her throat and head from the fever and cough. "Hey, kiddo, it'll be alright."

He walked over to sit beside her and handed her the water, letting her gulp it down. When she was still crying afterwards, Harvey sighed softly and bundled her up in blankets and lifted her up into his arms, before he sat down and held her in his lap hugging her and rubbing her back.

"There, there, it's alright," He soothed, happy when she didn't thrash and try to get away from him. "You're alright. You're going to get better in no time. I know it sucks right now, but you've got to tough it out, okay?"

Ivy sniffled and nodded her head, closing her eyes and snuggling up to Harvey, trying to relax and get some rest. Eventually, after an hour of coughing and being soothed, she drifted off to sleep, quiet except for the occasional cough resting contently in Harvey's arms.

The man sighed, realizing he was now trapped her, not wanting to risk moving and waking her up. He settled and propped some pillows up and leaned back closing his eyes and relaxing.

Maybe kids weren't half bad after all.


End file.
